When Gene’s 24-year old daughter unexpectedly passed away in 2018, he was aghast to see the amount of debt she’d racked up simply by going to college. He had told her for her entire life that she had to go to college; she had to aim high, that she had to work hard. She did all of those things, graduating Magna Cum Laude from University of Wisconsin and immediately starting a fulfilling career in advertising.
Gene had often wondered why she chose to live the way she did: in a 400 square foot studio apartment, with no car, shopping at Aldi and Trader Joe’s, and considering one night out with her friends per month to be a luxury. But he respected her work ethic and assumed she had amassed quite the savings.
At the time of her death, Gene was presented with a report of her private student loan debt that he was now responsible to pay. Three years after she finished college – which was just over $10,000 per year – she had more debt than it had actually cost her to finish her degree. She owed her private lender over $60,000. Interest!
Our Team met with Gene to help determine how much of this debt could be forgiven through the federal forgiveness program. He ended up owing a much more manageable (but still aggressive) $8,000 which we helped fund through unique grants to which our financial analysts have access.
We thought that Gene was mourning enough, the loss of his only daughter, without the pile-on of her debt. We were proud to help Gene!